Report on SHAFE policies, strategies and funding

The objective of Working Group (WG) 4 of the COST Action NET4Age-Friendly is to examine existing policies, advocacy, and funding opportunities and to build up relations with policy makers and funding organisations. Also, to synthesize and improve existing knowledge and models to develop from effective business and evaluation models, as well as to guarantee quality and education, proper dissemination and ensure the future of the Action. The Working Group further aims to enable capacity building to improve interdisciplinary participation, to promote knowledge exchange and to foster a cross-European interdisciplinary research capacity, to improve cooperation and co-creation with cross-sectors stakeholders and to introduce and educate students SHAFE implementation and sustainability (CB01, CB03, CB04, CB05). To enable the achievement of the objectives of Working Group 4, the Leader of the Working Group, the Chair and Vice-Chair, in close cooperation with the Science Communication Coordinator, developed a template (see annex 1) to map the current state of SHAFE policies, funding opportunities and networking in the COST member countries of the Action. On invitation, the Working Group lead received contributions from 37 countries, in a total of 85 Action members. The contributions provide an overview of the diversity of SHAFE policies and opportunities in Europe and beyond. These were not edited or revised and are a result of the main areas of expertise and knowledge of the contributors; thus, gaps in areas or content are possible and these shall be further explored in the following works and reports of this WG. But this preliminary mapping is of huge importance to proceed with the WG activities. In the following chapters, an introduction on the need of SHAFE policies is presented, followed by a summary of the main approaches to be pursued for the next period of work. The deliverable finishes with the opportunities of capacity building, networking and funding that will be relevant to undertake within the frame of Working Group 4 and the total COST Action. The total of country contributions is presented in the annex of this deliverable

Health-related quality of life in ankylosing spondylitis, fibromyalgia syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis: a comparison with a selected sample of healthy individuals

In this study, we compared health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scores of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), fibromyalgia syndrome (FS), or ankylosing spondylitis (AS), with those of a selected sample of healthy individuals. The study group comprised 530 patients (264 with RA, 149 with FS, and 117 with AS). Three hundred fifteen healthy controls were used for comparison. HRQoL scores were obtained using the Short-Form (SF)-36 Health Survey. Frequency, mean, correlation, and multiple regression analyses were performed; in addition to the Student's t test, one-way ANOVA test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and chi-square test. The average physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores of patients in the RA, FS, and AS groups were much lower than those in the control group (p<0.05). In all three patient groups, the lowest PCS score was found in the RA group, and the lowest MCS score was found in the FS group. The PCS scores of RA patients with disease-related changes in daily activities and the MCS scores of FS patients were lower (p<0.05). In the three patient groups, the quality of life (QoL) of university graduates and those with a high level of income was good, whereas the QoL of patients who lacked information about the disease was poor. This study shows that AS, FS, and RA have a negative impact on HRQoL. Evaluating the HRQoL of patients with these conditions may provide guidance on their treatment and care

Workplace Bullying in Nursing

This research was designed to determine whether nurses are bullied by other staff members and the effects of such behaviors on the nurse victims. This study reports on nurses' interpersonal workplace relationships in a culturally unique environment. The study was conducted with 260 nurses working in three public hospitals. Data were collected using a questionnaire. The majority of nurses were female with bachelor's degrees and reported being assigned duties outside their usual responsibilities, held responsible for coworkers' mistakes, and criticized for job performance although they thought they had done their work properly. Most of the nurses who were bullied experienced health and sleep problems, did not want to go to work, and had communication problems with other staff members. Nearly all of the study nurses received psychological support to solve their problems and believed that the best way to prevent bullying was education

The relationship between self-care agency, disability levels and factors regarding these situations among patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Aims and objectives. To assess the relationship between self-care agency scores, disability levels and factors regarding these situations among Turkish patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Symptoms and quality of life before and after stem cell transplantation in Cancer

Objective: This study was conducted thinking that it was extremely important in terms of the disease and treatment to assess the symptoms that may be encountered before and after a stem cell transplantation and quality of life

Malpractic in nursing: The experience in Turkey

This cross-sectional study was conducted with 562 nurses to find out nurses' opinions and practices concerning medical errors and to measure their tendency to make medical mistakes. Data were collected using a questionnaire and Tendency for Medical Errors Scale and evaluated using Student's t and one-way ANOVA tests. The average total score of the participating nurses was 4.4 +/- 0.3. It was observed that 36.1% nurses made medical errors, and all of those nurses making mistakes have stated that they have made medication errors. It was found that nurses with higher education and working in the intensive care unit had a lower tendency, whereas those working in children's hospital had a higher tendency to make medical mistakes (P < 0.05). It might be recommended that the working conditions of nurses be improved, and nurses in general and particularly, those working with pediatric patients be given regular training to prevent drug administration errors

Maternal and perinatal outcomes in high compared to low risk pregnancies complicated by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection (phase 2): the World Association of Perinatal Medicine working group on coronavirus disease 2019

BACKGROUND: It has still to be ascertained whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in pregnancy is associated with worse maternal and fetal outcomes compared to low risk gestations. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate maternal and perinatal outcomes in high- and low-risk pregnancies complicated by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. STUDY DESIGN: This was a multinational retrospective cohort study involving women with laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection from 76 centers from 25 countries in Europe, the United States, South America, Asia, and Australia from April 4, 2020, to October 28, 2020. The primary outcome was a composite measure of maternal mortality and morbidity, including admission to the intensive care unit, use of mechanical ventilation, or death. The secondary outcome was a composite measure of adverse perinatal outcome, including miscarriage, fetal loss, neonatal and perinatal death, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. All outcomes were assessed in high- and low-risk pregnancies. Pregnancies were considered high risk in case of either preexisting chronic medical conditions in pregnancy or obstetrical disorders occurring in pregnancy. The Fisher exact test and logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: A total of 887 singleton pregnancies who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction of nasal and pharyngeal swab specimens were included in the study. The risk of composite adverse maternal outcomes was higher in high-risk pregnancies than in low-risk pregnancies (odds ratio, 1.52; 95% confidence interval, 1.03–2.24; P=.035). In addition, women carrying high-risk pregnancies were at higher risk of hospital admission (odds ratio, 1.48; 95% confidence interval, 1.07–2.04; P=.002), presence of severe respiratory symptoms (odds ratio, 2.13; 95% confidence interval, 0.41–3.21; P=.001), admission to the intensive care unit (odds ratio, 2.63; 95% confidence interval, 1.42–4.88), and invasive mechanical ventilation (odds ratio, 2.65; 95% confidence interval, 1.19–5.94; P=.002). When exploring perinatal outcomes, high-risk pregnancies were at high risk of adverse perinatal outcomes (odds ratio, 1.78; 95% confidence interval, 0.15–2.72; P=.009). However, such association was mainly because of the higher incidence of miscarriage in high-risk pregnancies compared with that in low-risk pregnancies (5.3% vs 1.6%, P=.008); furthermore, there was no difference in other explored outcomes between the 2 study groups. At logistic regression analysis, maternal age (odds ratio, 1.12; 95% confidence interval, 1.02–1.22; P=.023) and high-risk pregnancy (odds ratio, 4.21; 95% confidence interval, 3.90–5.11; P&lt;.001) were independently associated with adverse maternal outcomes. CONCLUSION: High-risk pregnancies complicated by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection were at higher risk of adverse maternal outcomes than low-risk pregnancies complicated by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection